what made chrysler 300 so hot??

That number on the block signifies the nickel content in the block, that's all. The higher the number, the higher the nickel content. Nothing else.

 

Gotgas, ask and ye shall receive ...

 

Mercury boss Carl Kiekhaefer was a hands on owner who created a superb, professional race team. There's no telling what he could have done at NASCAR but Bill France's rule changes that worked to the Chrysler's disadvantage pissed him off so he quit.

 

The 57s had aerodynamic problems due to the jutting shape of the windshield header. 58s don't have that.

 

the hardest car ive ever had to load was a 55 new yorker.all 4 wheels where locked,and it had sunk into the ground from setting so long.it took a wrecker and my truck with a winch to get it moved and then loaded on the trailer.

 

didnt feel like looking through all the posts a little tired but im sure some one mentioned solid cam and 2 4barrel carbs, also I dont know how true it is but people say that the hemi's and othe engines in the day were either under rated or their dynos werent very accurate.

 

youre probably thinking of the late 60's.

insurance cos. were cracking down on the Hemi and BBC and BBF cars,so manufacturers were sandbagging ratings.


i sold a 60 300 for $1200 25 years ago,duh.

it seems those years they were all white with tan interior,and had that cross ram 413

saw a 60 4 speed 300 ragtop in chattanooga,only 4 speed 300 i ever saw,owner said it was the only one made..

the tranny was a french truck tranny,he said.

 

oh yeah I know they did it in the late 60's but its possible it was done in the 50's and early 60's with some of the early motors like hemi's and 409's but i was leaning more toward the accuracy of their dyno equipment in the 50's

 

Having owned a couple of 57 Desoto Adventurers (including a ragtop) I am partial to the Desotos but the Hemi is the key to the whole thing

 

Here is some info from my NASCAR History books. Millionaire Carl Kiekhaufer, a race fan, decided he could increase outboard motor sales by advertising his company on a race car. He was impressed with the new Chrysler 300 and purchased the first four built. He had three prepared for racing to bring to Daytona. He offered $18,000.00 and 90% of winnings to any "name" driver to drive his Chrysler 300 the entire 1955 season. Tim Flock was the first to sign up. The new team started winning at their first race, the Daytona 500. But first Flock set a new record of 140+ mph on the flying mile. He also led every lap of the 500. At years end Flock had won 18 races and the '55 Championship. Chrysler 300s won an amazing 27 NASCAR races in '55 with Kiekhaufer cars winning 22 of them.

For '56 Kiekhaufer REALLY got serious and funded the 300Bs of Flock, Buck Baker, Herb Thomas and Speedy Thompson. The teams won 16 straight NASCAR races but the fans were starting to boo the drivers which hurt Kiekhaufer very much. He withdrew from racing at the end of the '56 season after winning a second straight championship, this time Baker the winner. In just two seasons as a car owner his cars won 52 races, 51 poles and two championships ALL WITHOUT FACTORY SPONSORSHIP. Chrysler won only one more NASCAR race and that was in 1961. The '57-'58 300 Hemis did not win a single NASCAR race!

Kiekhaufer had the best cars, the best crew and the best drivers. Buck Baker won the NASCAR Championship again the following year, this time in a '57 Chevy.

 

What? 300SL was just as much of a "regular production car" for Mercedes as the 300C was for Chrysler.

 

once you go hemi you never wanta go back.......!

 

Buck Baker & Speedy Thompson also ran Kiekhaefer-prepped Dodges on occasion (Road America 1956).

No Chryslers competed in NASCAR for the 1957 season, as factory-backing went to Dodge and Plymouth. I can only find a reference to one Chrysler competing in 1958; at the 'Crown America 500' at Riverside. Oddly, this race also featured entries from Citroen and Renault...must have been a NASCAR/Sports Car event.

Those photos posted above are from NASCAR-sanctioned speed trials, not NASCAR races.

 

For those interested, Kiekhaefer prepped cars racked up an unprecedented number of victories;

From 1955-1956 (90 races)
51 wins
116 top-5s
138 top-10s
51 poles

During the 1955 season his teams won 21 races and led every lap from start to finish in 11 of those. In 1956, the big Chryslers won 30 races (16 of those in a row) and Kiekhaefer driver Buck Baker easily brought home the points title.

 

This is a very rare Kiekhaefer dual quad D500-1 intake manifold and carbs that was used on the 1956 Dodge red ram hemi for some of those races

 

Same HP from ANY engine?

Let's see.... 5,000 HP from a Hemi in a Top Fueler.... Um.... How many TF cars are running SBC's?....SBF's?...Pontiac's?...Rambler's?... Toyota's?... Ferrari?... Can I stop now?

 

In 1951 a Chrysler Saratoga won the Mexican Road Race stock-car class...............Rich

 

They made no more than 15 with the Pont-a-Mousson four speed as I recall. Facel Vega, who used Mopar engines, used this trans too. Your guy may be correct that only one was a convertible.

 

As usual, great thread, AND I LOVE TO SEE EVERYBODY GET THIS EXCITED ABOUT A SUBJECT!

THANKS "354 DeSoto" for clarifying which Daytona Speed Trials the Adventurer got its fingers smacked for showing up the Chrysler 300. Great story that few have heard (It WAS a long time ago, and who much cared about DeSoto performance at the time? Chrysler and Dodge were sort of the household names. Plymouth and DeSoto played second fiddle, publicity-wise.).

George, interesting point that Karl K. actually had some negative marketing backlash from winning a tad TOO often! I heard a ton of Detroit-conspiracy theories growing up, but I later found out many were TRUE! Certainly, Chrysler had something to do with the SEC ruining Preston Tucker, e.g. So, that GM might have been behind (at least partially) Keikhaffer's leaving NASCAR I do not have much doubt. I also have to give a nod to "Benzine440's" point that Bill France could and would change NASCAR rules at the drop of a hat to benefit what ever team he pleased. THANKS, "Hemi32" for the pix of the 392-powered 300s running in NASCAR.

THANKS to Frank Spittle for the SURPRISING facts that, after Keikhaffer left NASCAR, Chrysler only won one more NASCAR race (in '61, no less), the mighty 392 Hemi never won a single race. Amazing, really, given how the 331 and 354 had done, mainly in Karl K's stable.

Good point, Frank, that Baker won the '57 NASCAR championship in a Chevy. Let me throw something out here: I seem to recall Lee Petty winning the '54 championship driving a Dodge Hemi. If my memory serves (correct me if I am wrong!), that means Chrysler Corp. Hemis won THREE straight NASCAR championships from '54 through '56, right ?!?!?!?! If that's so, the Hemi dynasty followed right on the heels of the 308 Hudson Hornet dynasty. No f---ing wonder they called that period the Horsepower Race!!!

"Benzine440" is also right about the aero-problem on the '57 model's windshield. The engineers tracked down the issue at their own Chelsea Proving Grounds. Filling the void with clay resulted in a speed increase around 10 mph. So, the '58's had a mild redesign as a result. 10-4 on "sand-bagging" horsepower rating to assuage insurance companies. (Hey, look, the later 426 Hemis were only rated 425 hp. LOL ! Obvious what was up!)

 

BTW, Tim Flock's record 17 poles in '55 stood until Richard Petty knocked it over with 19 a decade-plus later, driving a MUCH bigger Hemi. LOL

 

OOPS, stepped on my dick! (Anybody ELSE ever do that out there?) Wikipedia sys Tim Flock drove in 45 races in 1955, winning 19 poles and 18 races. The part about The King knocking Tim's record off with his 426 is true, though.

 

If I'm not mistaken the gearbox factory at Pont-a-Mousson is a General Motors facility, or was at some stage. I'm speaking under correction.

 

Not quite. The early Hemi was not used in anything after the 300 "D" cars in 1958. So there are really only 3 letters you could use, which are "B", "C", or "D". The first 300 in 1955 was actually a C-300 model designation.

And of course there was the Hurst 300 in 1970, and those things they call 300's today.

 

Facel produced 68 letter series hemi powered cars . 38 with the 354 and 30 with the 392. Its a tight fit in the engine compartment. Heres a couple of pics of my FV4

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Let's not forget the early 60's 300's with the Sonic Ram equiped 413. My favorite mopar engine of all time.

 

EbbsSpeed is right, in that the EARLY Chrysler Hemis ("Whales," 1st-generation) did not appear in Letter-Series 300s after the D-edition of 1958. Someone else mentioned the 300-K, but that had a 413, not a Hemi, for 1964. The '65 "L" was the last letter 300 for many years, and it, too had a 360/390-hp 413, not a Hemi. Edmunds says nothing about the 426 ("Elephant," 2nd-generation) Hemi being a special-order option for the final two letter 300s. Even if they had been, EbbSpeed is collect about the early Hemis only being in the '55 through '58 model 300s.

In a different vein, I recently read someplace that Chrysler reserved a mere handful of 392s which could be special-ordered on the top-of-the-line 1959 (1959 !) Imperial South Hampton. I only saw this reference one time. It it were actually so, a '59 Hemi Imperial would be about as rare as a live dodo bird!

 

Don't forget all the non-letter Chrysler 300s made from '62 up through the '70s.

 

Interesting! I've never seen a Facel Vega with a Hemi. The ones I've seen were always RB 383-powered. And they always sounded REAL healthy...​

 

The early Facel Vegas, wow! Rolls-Royce lines AND Hemis. Jeesh. One source on the net says they used the DeSoto 276 beginning '54 and then the Chrysler 331 beginning '56, and wedges from '59 on. What year is this one that's shown? If indeed it's got a 354 or 392, that might indicate some special arrangement between Facel and Chrysler, presumably to accommodate the tastes of some wealthy customers!!! If you read much about Facel, this doesn't sound too far fetched, gang. I'd like to hear MORE, MORE, MORE!

 

Going a little O/T here... I had Facel II with a 383 and dual quads with the Pont-a-Mousson truck box. That thing was a tank. I saw a black convertible Facel II on Katella Ave in Orange, CA last year and thought I was hallucinating as I drove past, so I stopped and went back to check it out - guy working on it said it was one of two made and I think he said it was made from leftover parts in the 1960s after the factory closed. The car was on MA plates.

Facel Vegas are the last of the great independent French Grand Marques - glorious dinosaurs and all the big Facels used Chrysler engines.